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2016 BMW Dallas Marathon Recap.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I sure did. I gave myself an early Christmas present…a fabulous new marathon PR. Let’s discuss, shall we?

So the weekend started off pretty mellow. I scaled back the miles last week leading up to Sunday’s race. Friday I did a little shakeout run and then Saturday I rested the legs. Me and my homegirl Tracy went up to the Dallas Marathon expo to pick up our runner swag. I loved the graffiti art on the wall.

Saturday night I laid out my clothes and I was ready to go. Gotta love this shirt. Running wild. That is me indeed.

Race day! Tracy and I got up extra early, got a ridiculously awesome spot right by the race site in downtown Dallas and then walked around to find our Irving Running Club buddies. Here’s just a few of the crew. We had lots of runners doing the half and full marathons that day.

I lined up to the start ready to go. Temps were pretty chilly, with a light misty rain and a bit of humidity. Not the most amazing conditions, but not too shabby either. I was loving the chill in the air. The start was really awesome too, they had some fireworks going off, and a few Olympic runners (Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi just to name a few) were there as well. Meb did a little speech and sent us on our way.

I started off running with my girl Tracy who was going out with guns blazing. One of the things I loved the most about this training season was doing a lot of my training with her. She is a bit of a faster runner so she really pushed me and motivated me to keep up. I’m so thankful for her! I had to pull back a bit because I knew for me I was starting out a bit fast. I reigned it back into a solid pace that I knew I could hold for a while. I also tracked myself so I was getting alerts on my phone on how I was doing, my estimated finish time and etc. The first few miles literally seemed to fly by. I loved seeing my friends and runner family out on this course. Running in my hometown is absolutely the best.

I clocked my first half at around 1:51 and some change feeling good. And honestly feeling like I could still hold strong through the second half (something I’ve definitely had trouble with in the past). We went through White Rock Lake and over some hills which I also felt strong on. I felt a bit tired around mile 20 but I knew I could push through still and bust that wall down. I took a salted caramel gu and just kept trucking. I also had my hydration pack with plenty of water so I didn’t really stop at many water stops this time, only to take in a few sips of gatorade. Just keep trucking…relentless forward progress…is what I kept saying to myself for most of this run.

I will just say this. I went into this race with the intention to PR. I knew without a shadow of a doubt, despite the weather, and whatever obstacles I would face that day…that it was going to happen for me. Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I believed I was capable of this strong of a race. After a few years, and after my previous fastest time, finally the stars aligned and it was my moment. I wasn’t sure if it would be under 3:50. Honestly, I would have been ecstatic with that time as well! But I flew into that finish line with a solid 3:47 and some change finish. Smiling from ear to ear. I did it. And my goodness…does it feel oh so good.

There is nothing sweeter than a new marathon PR.

26.2 number 22 complete.

How was your weekend? Did anyone run the Dallas Marathon or any other fun race? If so…congrats!

Congrats!!! That is awesome, you really put in the work this season and it paid off!

I also ran on Sunday, I was not gunning for a PR because I had an injury flare up at the last minute. Thankfully, I felt pretty good on race day and ran strong for the first 22-ish miles! My legs really felt like lead after that, though, so it felt like a slog to the finish. But I actually finished only 5 seconds behind my PR, had I known that I was that close I might have been able to convince my legs to move just a little faster! Oh, well, I am still happy with my performance.